An Awesome Wave'
Alt-J
With
debut album "An Awesome Wave," English alt-rock newcomers Alt-J
proved that their folk-tinged arrangements aren't half as
gimmicky as their band name (which is a reference to the Mac-OSX
command for the "delta" sign). The group's stuttering
soundscapes can recall Radiohead at their most cohesive moments,
but "An Awesome Wave" -- which took home this year's Barclacard
Mercury Prize -- is the sound of a unique new voice in rock
music exploring its creative sandbox.
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'Sun'
Cat Power
Six
years after her last proper album, Chan Marshall reminded indie
rock fans of her songwriting process when her self-produced
"Sun" was finally released in September. A stylistically bolder
effort that became Cat Power's highest-charting album to
date, "Sun" fused guitars, synths, powerful percussion and
gorgeously vulnerable vocals together, forming a set of songs
that was worth the wait.
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8
'Attack on Memory'
Cloud Nothings
2012
was a great year for delectable hooks to be packaged in gleeful
punk blasts -- see Japandroids' "Celebration Rock" or Metz'
self-titled LP, for instance -- but none of the other upstarts
could hold a candle to Cloud Nothings' measured intensity on
"Attack on Memory." From the drawn-out vitriol of the
nearly nine-minute "Wasted Days" to the exhausted pop-punk
closer "Cut You," the album contrasts the darker edges of Dylan
Baldi's songwriting with catchy choruses the whole head-banging
family can enjoy.
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7
'Wrecking Ball'
Bruce Springsteen
Make
no mistake: Bruce Springsteen is not slowing down whatsoever.
The Boss has always been at his best when his full-lengths have
cutting mission statements, and "Wrecking Ball" smashes the
relative complacency of 2009's "Working on a Dream" by taking
aim at Wall Street, the government and an economy that cannot be
deemed satisfying. At 63, Springsteen has released an album
that harnesses the quiet fury building inside the rock
legend, and because of that, more than lives up to its title.
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6
'Bloom'
Beach House
Victoria
Legrand and Alex Scally officially enjoyed "breakout" status
when Beach House's majestic third album, "Teen Dream," was
released in 2010. And while the duo's previous effort contained
more immediately arresting songs like "Norway" and "10 Mile
Stereo," "Bloom" works more slowly to reveal itself but
proved just as engrossing upon repeated listens. Legrand has
become a master of emoting her dreamy abstractions, calmly
guiding tracks like "New Year" as they twist and bend around
her.
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5
'Red'
Taylor
Swift was an incredible teenage songwriter; now, she is an
incredible adult songwriter. Her fourth album "Red" will likely
be remembered for its sonic risks, with the Avrilized pop of
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and the dubstep
wobbles of "I Knew You Were Trouble" pushing the country star
out of her comfort zone. Yet a more subtle, and arguably more
important, shift occurred the moment Swift decided to ease off
the fairy-tale fodder and sing about how nice it is for a guy to
pull her chair out and help her in. One of contemporary music's
biggest stars could not have glided into her lower 20s more
gracefully, and for that, she should be saluted.
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4
'Devotion'
Jessie Ware
U.K.
singer-songwriter Jessie Ware's "Devotion" is even more
staggering of an achievement when you consider the fact that it
is her debut album; few, if any, albums released in 2012 exuded
the kind of quality control and confidence found in this
long-player. 28-year-old Ware often has her vocal style compared
to Sade, but the diversity of her sound is entirely her own:
who else could flaunt the elegant power of "Wildest
Moments," jazzy cooing of "Swan Song" and heartbreaking romance
of "Taking in Water" with nary a misstep? Wherever Ware's career
leads, she at least touched down long enough to release a
front-to-back stunner.
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3
'Kaleidoscope Dream'
Miguel
Reinvention
is difficult in mainstream music, and if you don't believe us,
ask MC Hammer how his post-"U Can't Touch This" gangster rap
career worked out. But sometimes all you need an album full
of forward-thinking music -- other times, all you need is an
undeniable single. Fortunately, 26-year-old Miguel, whose 2010
debut album "All I Want Is You" started outside the top 100
spots on the Billboard 200, had both: sophomore disc
"Kaleidoscope Dream" is a sumptuous slice of rhythmic pop that
actually takes risks, and lead single "Adorn" rightly became a
smash. Miguel's stock has soared in the past three months, and
we can't wait to see what direction he takes next.
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2
'good kid, m.A.A.d city'
Kendrick Lamar
In
2012, these artists did not put out solo albums: Drake, Lil
Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Young Jeezy, Eminem. Thank goodness we
had Kendrick Lamar to eliminate that mega-star vacuum and
deliver the most breathtaking hip-hop debut since "The College
Dropout." Dismissing luxurious rap tropes in favor of gritty
storytelling, Lamar's unhinged flow and brilliant turns of
phrases worked on the purposefully ignorant "Backseat Freestyle"
and the death meditation "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst."
Executive producer Dr. Dre shows up on the closing track
"Compton" to pass the blunt, then pass the torch, but even the
West Coast legend can't overshadow an MC who will stop at
nothing to make his unique voice ring out.
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1
'Channel Orange'
Frank Ocean
Frank
Ocean's thrilling "Nostalgia, Ultra" clocked in at No. 4 on our
2011 critics' albums list, and the R&B prodigy's Def Jam
debut, "Channel Orange," promptly expanded upon that unofficial
release in every way imaginable. As the Odd Future member
waxes poetic on everything from drugs to God to unrequited
love, it's hard not to be distracted by the most soothing male
voice in years -- not to mention an album's worth of slick beats
and hummable hooks. Like Billboard.com's favorite album of
2011, Adele's "21," "Channel Orange" will go down as the moment
where its artist's genius was fully realized by an overwhelming
number of fans, hungry for new spins on familiar ideas. 2012 was
a fantastic year for full-lengths, but Ocean's color was the
most vibrant.
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